The mess hall was quieter than the engineering decks, though the steady hum of the Athena was still present beneath everything. Ensign Edward Nash had claimed a table toward the edge of the room, his broad frame making the standard mess-hall chair look considerably less substantial than it probably was. In front of him sat a plate holding a medium-rare steak, the center still pink beneath the seared exterior, accompanied by a generous serving of roasted potatoes.

Nash cut into the steak with deliberate precision, taking a bite before reaching for a forkful of potatoes. There was nothing hurried about the meal. After hours spent crawling through maintenance accessways, wrestling with equipment, and dealing with the usual assortment of engineering problems that somehow always became his problem, he seemed content to simply sit and eat.

He leaned back slightly between bites, letting his attention wander across the mess hall while he continued working his way through the meal. For the moment, there were no EPS conduits to reroute, no damaged systems demanding his attention, and no alarms calling Engineering to another emergency. Just a quiet meal aboard the Athena, which, as far as Nash was concerned, was exactly how he preferred it.

Ensign Edward Nash
Starfleet Corps of Engineers
Engineering Division